West Tennesseans participate in Small Business Saturday

JACKSON, Tenn. —  95 million people shopped small during Small Business Saturday, spending more than $16 million in 2015. Even though some big retailers have extended sales through the holiday weekend some consumers have opted to shop small instead.

“Small business Saturday, I love the reminder to just get out there and support local. Support your neighbors. Support your local families,” Mags and Lulu owner Haley Short said.

Even though retail parking lots were still filled with shoppers searching for the last of Black Friday specials, some West Tennesseans decided to support local shops during Small Business Saturday.

“We’ve been to Alamo and over here in Jackson just trying to support the small businesses cause they’re what makes up this community,” shopper Joy Murdaugh said.

Shop owners say every year Small Business Saturday has grown. Drawing bigger crowds who want to keep their dollars local.

“It means a lot to us and to our family,” short said. “We wouldn’t be open if it wasn’t for the families we serve. So we certainty appreciate their business and their loyalty.”

For some shoppers this holiday weekend is a chance to get Christmas shopping done early.

“I try to do it, most everything on Black Friday or shop small Saturday,” shopper Paige Buckner said. “Cause I think that you can get the better deals that way and then you can knock out all the birds with one stone.”

“Today’s a great day to go out and spend some time shopping for your family and spending some money supporting someone else family,” Murdaugh said.

With all the buzz centered around Black Friday each year, smaller stores say they appreciate customer support.

“We know that as consumers they can shop anywhere, be it online or at the big box stores,” Littles’s Jewelers employee Sara Mann said. “But its always good, means the world to us when they come in and shop with a family owned business.”

The Jackson Chamber of Commerce also promoted small business Saturday with their social media challenge. All contestants had to do was take a selfie shopping local and use the hashtag #JacksonTN. The winner will get free round-trip flight to St. Louis, hockey tickets and four-star hotel accommodations.